


Bundle of Joy

by fruitsofanarchy



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst, Does this count as langst?, I cried while writing this, Lance (Voltron) is a Mess, Taking a child away, ethan is my own character, hard times, really freaking sad
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-04
Updated: 2018-07-04
Packaged: 2019-06-05 05:35:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,858
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15163790
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fruitsofanarchy/pseuds/fruitsofanarchy
Summary: Lance McClain was happy with his son once. Until he wasn’t.





	Bundle of Joy

Being a parent is hard.

Especially a single parent.

Lance McClain knew that better than anybody.

He was a freshman in college when he met his girlfriend. They hit it off right away. He was going for marine biology and he had big plans. Well, at least until his girlfriend got pregnant. She never told him, just broke up with him and left. Eleven months later, though, there was a literal baby in front of his apartment. He was shocked, to say the least. He had just woken up, coffee cup in hand, to a screaming baby on his doormat. There was a little note card on top of the blue blanket the boy was swaddled in. Lance scooped him up before his neighbors could report him for noise complaints and kicked his door shut.

First things first, he needed to calm the kid down. He gently rocked the tiny bundle in his arms. “Shhh, it’s okay,” he said quietly, a little desperately. “You’re okay. You’re alright. Please stop crying.” The baby didn’t stop, but he wasn’t surprised. “Please?” he asked again. “Unless you want us both to get kicked out, and then where would we be? Shhh.” The baby did quiet down a little bit at that, and Lance huffed out a breath in relief. “There we go, that’s it, er….” he glanced down at the card. “Ethan.”

He gave the baby a better look. He was kinda pudgy, and red faced. But he was cute. There was no denying he had Lance’s eyes. And smile. But he had his mother’s nose. “Heh, you’re kind of cute, Ethan,” Lance muttered. Ethan just cooed, squirming his arms out of the blankets and reaching out to Lance. He smiled softly. “Okay, Ethan,” he whispered. “I guess I’m taking care of you now.”

—————————-

Lance quickly discovered that babies are very difficult to take care of. Especially because he didn’t know the first thing about taking care of babies. That day, he had to skip all his classes, obviously. He called his friends and asked them to get the notes for him, but wouldn’t tell them why. He wasn’t so sure they’d believe he had a baby now. That afternoon, Lance got on his laptop and pretty much had to teach himself how to properly take care of a baby. It was a lot harder than it looked.

But he somehow managed to figure out most of it. The easiest part was feeding the kid. He seemed to really like applesauce. Okay, so needed to get baby food. He was suddenly aware that there were a lot of things he needed to get. But he just didn’t have the money. He was already a struggling college student as it was, so…. that was hard.

But then Ethan looked at him with those big, blue eyes and Lance was honestly kind of floored. Okay… he could make this work, he decided. He would make this work. He had to make this work.

That afternoon, he gathered what money he had left and made his way to the local Walmart. They had better stuff, but it was much too expensive. So they went off to the Dollar Store instead. Ethan sleepily rested his head on Lance’s shoulder while he debated over mushy steamed carrots or the apples. He eventually just got one of everything and hoped for the best. He was exhausted already.

—————————-

Ethan did not like the steamed carrots.

—————————

Ethan’s first words came as a bit of a shock to Lance. He had all his friends over, they were all just lounging around on the couch. Ethan was perfectly happy to just crawl around and babble incoherently, only 7 months old. “He’s a cutie,” Pidge remarked, from where she was tucked into Hunk’s side.

“Yeah, he is,” Lance agreed. Ethan sat down on his butt and looked up at Lance and giggled. Lance was pretty sure his heart melted a little bit. “He’s actually.. pretty perfect,” he admitted. “Even though being a dad is really fucking hard.”

“Fuck!!”

Lance whipped his head around so fast, he might have gotten whiplash. “Ethan, no!!” he cried. Pidge and Hunk busted out laughing- even Keith smiled a little bit, and Shiro snorted. Ethan looked up at his dad innocently and smiled. “I… no, buddy. You can’t say that word.”

“Fuck,” Ethan repeated, tilting his head.

“Yeah, that word- wait! No! Just don’t say that. Say a normal first word.”

“That was his first word??” Pidge asked, between gasps of air through her laughter.

Lance ducked his head. “Yeah,” he mumbled, a tad embarrassed. “That was his first word.”

Pidge just started laughing again.

_________________

 

When Ethan was one, Lance dropped out of college. Not because he didn’t want to finish it, but because he was too busy and he simply couldn’t afford it. It saved him a lot of money. His mother, of course, was a little sad, and so were all his friends. But they understood about Ethan, how important it was to Lance that he take care of him.

Lance’s landlady, on the other hand? A lot less nice about it. She told him that if he couldn’t pay his rent on time (which, he couldn’t), then she’d have to kick him out. Lance informed her that he was taking care of a baby. Her response? “Not my problem.”

It only got worse when Lance realized that rent at most apartment buildings was too high. Hunk, bless his heart, offered to let the two of them crash at his place for a little while, at least until Lance got back on his feet. “Hunk, buddy, you’re a lifesaver,” Lance told him.

“Well, that is what I do. Besides, it’s no problem, Lance. I’ve got room to spare.”

Lance might have cried a little at that. But that’s okay. They moved in with Hunk, and Lance did offer to pay him, but Hunk wouldn’t hear of it. Ethan was free to waddle around on unsteady legs and Lance looked for a job. He technically already had a job. It was at the diner down the street- a place he remembered very vividly from his childhood. However, even with the meager pay and all of the tips, he still couldn’t afford most things needed for basic living.

The gods must have been on his side, though, because he found a job as a secretary at some law firm downtown, willing to take him on, despite his lack of a college education. Or rather, the degree. Lance was thankful, of course, and they had him start right away. The job was relatively easy, and after working there for about a month, he had enough money to get the cheapest apartment possible and still be around his friends. He was making this work. Finally.

________________

They lived in that apartment for around 5 years. It was pretty much where Ethan grew up. When Ethan was 4, Lance enrolled him in preschool. He might not have had much money, but he really wanted Ethan to have an education. Hopefully he wouldn’t end up in the same situation that Lance did. Ethan was everything to Lance. He loved that kid so much, it almost physically hurt sometimes. He wasn’t sure what it was, but Ethan just… completed him. If he had his son, everything was okay, even if life was trying to get him down. He was making enough money to pay rent, and get at least a little bit of food on the table. Their life wasn’t perfect, by any means.

But they had each other, and that was enough.

Sometimes, Keith or Hunk would offer to watch Ethan whenever Lance had to work late. That happened often, as working overtime meant making more money in that week’s paycheck. One thing that Lance always made sure to do, though, was to pick Ethan up from school (he was kindergarten now, and honestly, Lance was so proud of him), drop him off at home, call one of his buddies over, and work the diner through the dinner rush. He usually got home around 11 pm. A lot of the time, on weekends, Lance was working the diner then too. He was constantly exhausted, and both he and Ethan hated that he couldn’t spend a lot of time with him.

But… that’s just how life was sometimes.

One day, after school, Lance was walking home with Ethan, who was hanging onto his hand and excitedly talking about his day. “-and then, daddy, she brought out a dinosaur toy too! And she told me she liked my Spider-Man backpack!”

Lance chuckled quietly. “That’s good, Ethan. I’m glad you made friends with, er… what did you say her name was again?”

“Jane.”

“Jane,” Lance repeated. “Right.” He picked Ethan up as they arrived at their apartment building, unlocking the front door and pushing it open.

“Daddy, do you have to work today?” Ethan always asked, even though the answer never changed.

Lance smiled sadly. “Yeah… I do, buddy. I’m sorry.”

“When can you never work?”

“We’ll talk about that when you’re older, okay?” Lance set Ethan down, who immediately ran off to his bedroom. Lance sighed and ran his hand through his hair. He had received some rather… distressing news that day. Or rather, he received a letter from CPS saying they just wanted to talk. That never meant good things, especially not for parents. But sometimes… it did for the child.

——————

On the day the letter said, Lance felt very sick. When Ethan got home from school that day, the agent from CPS came by. She took a long look around the house, and at Ethan. She asked Lance a lot of questions, like about his income and where he was from and all that stuff. Eventually, Lance looked over at her. “Excuse me. Mrs. uh…” he looked at her nametag. “Mrs. Newman… um, I’m still not quite sure why you’re here. Y’know?”

Mrs. Newman looked at Lance disapprovingly. “I am here because we’ve received several calls from Ethan’s teachers and school.”

“What! Why?”

“They see his clothes, and how unhealthily small he is for a child his age, and they become concerned. There is a worry that he is not being properly taken care of at home. His teacher has told me that the other kids as well have noticed things. They tease him constantly about his lack of things with monetary value. Not to mention the fact that his mother is gone and his father never seems to be around.”

Lance was kind of speechless. His heart kind of broke a little bit as she talked. “But-“

She interrupted him. “Looking around your home here, I can see why there are concerns. A five year old boy needs space to run around and play. He needs food, and he needs love. From what I can tell so far, he only has one of those things. Mr. McClain, I am well aware that sometimes life can be hard and get you down. But this is worse than anything I have ever seen.”

“I take care of Ethan! There are whole weeks where I don’t eat because I give all the food to Ethan. We might not have a lot of money. So what? He has everything he needs right here.”

Mrs. Newman looked at him for a very long moment. “I will give you three weeks to turn this around and prove to me that you are capable of taking care of both and child and yourself.”

Lance sighed. “Thank you so much, Mrs. Newman.”

“I wouldn’t thank me yet, Mr. McClain.”

———————

Things only went downhill from there, as they were bound to go. Lance worked harder than ever- better than ever. Of course, this sadly meant that he got to see Ethan even less than before, but that was okay. He knew that if he got to keep his son, it would all be okay. It looked like he was going to get a promotion at work, and that would have been amazing.

It didn’t really work out like that.

Lance did not get a promotion. In fact, he got the exact opposite of that, meaning that he lost his job. The secretary one, anyways. The diner was still keeping him on, but that still didn’t provide enough money. That afternoon, Lance called Keith and asked him to pick up Ethan from school. He needed to look for a new job.

Keith did as he asked and took Ethan home, watching him. Lance did not find a new job.

He came home that day in very low spirits. Ethan, bless his heart, was a little ball of energy like usual. “Daddy!” he yelled, running up to him.

Lance managed to get a tired smile on his face and crouched down just in time for Ethan to plow into him with a hug. “Hey, buddy. How’s school go?”

“It was okay! I missed you, though.. why didn’t you come pick me up?”

“I’m sorry, Ethan. I got.. I got really busy.”

“Oh. Well, okay! But you’re here now!”

“I am here now, that’s right.” He scooped Ethan up, balancing him on his hip, and moved to the couch. “Did you behave for Keith?”

“Yeah! Keef made mac n cheese and we played uno but I won!”

“That’s good, buddy. I’m glad.”

“And guess what? I found my missing triceratops!”

“Yeah? That’s really good. I’m happy for you.”

Ethan was silent for a moment, sitting in his dad’s lap and looking up at him. “Hey, daddy? Are you okay?”

“Oh, yeah, I’m fine,” Lance said quickly. “I’m okay.”

“Oh. Cause.. you look sad.”

That’s because he was sad. “I’m not sad. I’m just… tired.” And sad. But Lance didn’t say that.

Ethan tilted his head a little bit. “Oh,” he said again. “Okay. A lady came by school today.”

“Oh,” Lance said. His heart felt like it clenched in his chest.

“She wanted to talk with me about living with you.”

“Oh,” he repeated. He swallowed thickly.

“I told her that it was really nice, even though sometimes it takes a while to get food and my clothes have holes in them. She told me that I’m not supposed to have to wait for food, but I told her that you taught me that sometimes waiting is good. I don’t think she liked that.”

Lance bit his lip. Oh god, he felt like he was gonna cry. “Ethan…”

“And then she said that I might have to leave and go away for a while. Why would I have to leave, daddy?”

He looked away, shutting his eyes for a moment. “Well… they think that you aren’t being properly taken care of.”

“Because we don’t have any money?”

He nodded. “Yeah. They… They say that I can’t take care of you, so you should go someplace where you can be taken care of.”

Ethan tilted his head. “But you take great care of me, daddy!”

Lance smiled sadly, his eyes watering a little bit. “Thank you, Ethan…”

Ethan hugged him tightly, burying his face in his dad’s chest. “I don’t wanna leave, daddy.”

Lance hugged him back, just as tightly. “I know, buddy. I’m gonna do everything I can to make sure that doesn’t happen.” They sat like that for a while.

——————-

Mrs. Newman heard that Lance lost his job. She was not happy with this development. She warned Lance that the ice he was on was very thin, and that she was steadily losing her patience with him.

The final straw was when almost three weeks passed with Lance diligently looking, and he still hadn’t found a new job yet, and their landlord pretty much kicked them out and gave them three days to get all of their things out because Lance couldn’t afford to pay the rent anymore.

That day, when Lance and Ethan got back from picking him up from school, Mrs. Newman was there with a black car. “I’m sorry, Mr. McClain.”

Lance felt his heart drop. “No…”

She stood up a little straighter. “You know it has to be done. It’s what’s best for him.”

Ethan held onto his dad’s hand a little tighter. A big man got out of the car and picked Ethan up. “No!” Lance said, desperate now. “No no no no. You can’t take him!”

Ethan was getting a little scared now. “Daddy…?”

“Mr. McClain, please. Don’t make this any harder than it has to be.”

The big man was carrying Ethan to the car now. He reached out. “Daddy!”

“Ethan!”

Ethan didn’t hear much else because the big man put Ethan in a car seat and shut the door. Ethan was crying.

Lance was crying now too. “Mrs. Newman, please, I’m begging you. I-“

“Mr. McClain. No. You have had too many chances now with not enough results. I truly am sorry. But this must be done.”

Lance just looked really broken. “No-“

“Goodbye, Mr. McClain.”

He watched as she got into the car. He watched as it drove away. He watched as his son was taken from him. Just like that.

**Author's Note:**

> I am so sorry I wrote this. I got the idea and had to write it. I genuinely made myself cry, oops.


End file.
